Scent of Murder by James O. Born Read Free Book Online Page B

man.
    Junior patted the Beretta in his belt. Was he ready to get drastic? The urge told him it might be time to take a few risks.
    *   *   *
    Hallett did a quick assessment of his team. None of them wore a uniform, but each of them had a pistol concealed under a loose shirt. He was considering all the factors for the worst-case scenario. Every good cop thought in those terms.
    Claire stepped toward him and said, “Who the hell would be in this place at this time?”
    It was now completely dark, and the absence of any city’s ambient light made it feel like they were in a cave. The closest building was miles away. All three shut off their flashlights immediately.
    Hallett felt responsible for his partner’s safety. He always did. Even as a kid, he looked after his brother, no matter how infuriating he was. The only fights he had been in were defending his brother’s odd behavior. Now his instinct was to send his friends to safety, but he had to understand that they were trained professional police officers and equal to any of the challenges that they ran up against. There was no telling who was in this vehicle, and he definitely needed the help.
    Darren said, “A fisherman?”
    Claire said what everyone was thinking. “The kidnapper? What are the chances?”
    Hallett calculated the odds. It would be weird, but possible. Crazy things happened on this damn job every day. He tensed as all three of them backed to the edge of the woods and watched the vehicle as it slowed, then turned toward the canal at the far end of the field.
    Now Hallett could clearly tell the vehicle was a pickup truck. It looked like a four-door Ram Charger. The truck drove along the edge of the far stand of pines to the bank of the canal. Although it was an isolated spot just to fish, that seemed like the easiest explanation.
    The front passenger door and the rear doors opened simultaneously as three men stumbled out. All three were loud and drunk. One man wobbled like a broken toy, and Hallett figured they were just drunk rednecks. The driver, a kid, about seventeen, stepped out of the driver’s door.
    Hallett’s hope that this was the kidnapper evaporated.
    Darren whispered, “Why the hell would you drive all the way out here to fish?”
    Claire added, “I thought they might be dopers, but I haven’t heard any planes, and there are no airstrips in the area.”
    Then they heard two small dogs yapping. That caught the attention of Rocky, Smarty, and Brutus.
    Hallett immediately realized what these assholes were up to. By the light of the open door, he could see two poodles on homemade rope leashes sitting in the rear seat. Hallett thought, Son of a bitch . I’ll make them sorry . He was all about justice no matter how it was handed out or who dealt it. He turned to his partners and whispered, “Gator poachers.”
    Claire muttered, “Assholes.”
    *   *   *
    Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dark and there was light coming from the double-wide trailer’s living room window, Junior clearly saw the thickset man leaning on the mailbox with a Confederate flag painted on it. He was smoking a cigarette. And he hadn’t noticed Junior.
    The trailer was on a permanent cement pad forty feet off the road and marked the beginning of the park that held twenty double-wides. Junior could see from the light that the front yard was sprinkled with old, cracked kids’ toys, and a satellite TV dish dangled from the side of the trailer.
    He wondered where Katie Ziegler lived inside the trailer. She had a younger brother, but he was pretty sure the place would have three bedrooms.
    Junior took a moment to fantasize about what she would be wearing at this moment. He’d like it to be young, preppy, and not too slutty.
    This sparse, shitty trailer park was only on the left side of the road. The right side of the road was scrub brush and canals.